Kyle Randall Tansek has trained in and practiced the martial arts around the world — from Japan and the United Kingdom to Italy and his current home in Detroit.
The member of Michigan Medieval Combat Association, based near Detroit, traveled Saturday to Perrysburg to share his expertise at an event hosted by the Toledo Historical Swordsmanship Society, where he taught a class in Italian Medieval Longsword.
The society, officially founded around three years ago, is group of about 15 practitioners of historical European martial arts — more colloquially known as HEMA.
The HEMA community, which exists in clusters around the globe, studies and practices European fighting techniques by unearthing, translating, and interpreting fighting manuals from Europe’s martial fighting tradition. The Toledo group hosts weekly practices every Monday and works with a range of weapons including longswords, rapiers, and daggers.
About 50 enthusiasts attended “The Toledo War” Saturday at Fort Meigs. Named for a near-bloodless Ohio-Michigan border dispute from the mid-1830s, the local swordsmen group’s first-ever public event reignited that interstate rivalry in a friendlier fashion.
“Going to these events like this, [I find] other people who study the same historical research material, and we can all compare and contrast our interpretations of these manuals to make sure we’re getting it right,” Mr. Tansek said. “It’s part of the scientific method. We’re doing the peer reviewing part of the scientific method, and we have to. We’re doing research, we have to practice the martial science, and we do the peer review.”
Graced by bright skies and warm weather, the eight-hour event included open sparring, a flag war, advice on how to make local HEMA chapters financially independent, and instructional classes ranging from “Cutting Mechanics” to “Fiore Bastoncello and Historical Stick.”
The event drew locals as well as members of HEMA groups in Michigan, southern Ohio, and Wisconsin. Matthew Haynes, the swordsmanship society’s spokesman, said the numbers of Michiganders and Ohioans were roughly equal.
Mr. Tansek noted that meetups like Saturday’s “don’t happen that often,” and the discussions that happen at them have the power to influence attendees’ HEMA interpretations for the rest of their lives.
Sarah Potratz of Appleton, Wis. was drawn to Saturday’s event by an ad on Facebook. A “big fan” of smallsword — a weapon she has practiced for just under two years that is somewhat uncommon even among HEMA practitioners — Ms. Potratz drove about seven hours to attend the event, which offered a class using her weapon of choice.
“If you see it, you’ve got to go to it,” she said. “You either have to make it yourself, or you have to travel.”
George Carr of Defiance, an instructor at the event and a swordsmanship society member who sees fellow group members as “family,” enjoyed getting to meet and instruct a wider range of folks from the HEMA community during Saturday’s “war.”
“Getting instructors and just getting people from all over the place, we’re walking around talking to each other, we’re giving pointers, we’re handing out ideas, we’re handing out compliments,” Mr. Carr said. “We’re getting feedback from people we don’t normally get a chance to play with, and that in and of itself is awesome.... Days like this are great.”
First Published June 8, 2019, 10:45 p.m.
